MY MOST MEMORABLE CRAF/MAC CHARTER FLIGHT
(CRAF: Civil Reserve Air Fleet. MAC: Military Assistance Command.)

Fiumicino Airport, Rome, Italy, March 9, 1991.
My crew and I boarded the aircraft after our pre-flight preparations. The passengers were already aboard, having just arrived directly from Iraq en route back to their home base at Twenty Nine Palms, California with a fuel stop with us in New York’s JFK airport, a crew change, and then on to Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station, California.

The majority of our passengers were the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines of the 1st Marine Division. The most significant thing to me was that just a few weeks earlier, the majority of these men didn’t know if they were going to live through the next day. They were a major force in General Schwarzkopf’s brilliant and successful sweep of Saddam Hussein’s “Elite Republican Guard.” Of the approximately 420 soldiers that we had aboard, most of them looked like teenagers and had never been out of their home country before.

In our pre-flight briefing aboard the aircraft, the cockpit crew and cabin staff all voiced their commitment to make sure these heroes had a wonderful flight and knew how glad we at Pan Am were to be able to take them home.

Even before we took off, the flight attendants were trading their Pan Am insignia and other Pan Am memorabilia for those of as many marines as they could until they had nothing left to trade.

In my pre-takeoff announcement I invited them all, in turn, to the cockpit during the approximately 10 hour flight with the proviso that they leave their weapons at their seats (they were all still armed and responsible for their weapons).

I also announced that we had taken on a full load of MRE’s (meals, ready to eat; their standard field rations), so they would not suffer from a sudden change in diet. I could hear the groans all the way up on the flight deck and quickly reassured them I was only kidding and that we had some great REAL food we hoped they would enjoy.  I heard the cheers.

The flight to New York was operationally uneventful and I had an opportunity to shake the hands and thank almost all of the men.

I did have a chance to tour the cabin and observe the rapport that our cabin staff had developed. It was like a big party with everyone very well-behaved and appreciative of the extra attention our flight attendants were able to give them. 

I made an announcement when we crossed into U.S. airspace just North of Maine with a big “Welcome Home to the United States”. As big as a 747 is, it still vibrated with the cheers.

As we got close to JFK airport, Air Traffic Control said, “We understand you have some returning troops aboard.”  I answered, “Yes we do.”  ATC then said, “Would you like to take a tour of the City?”  Of course I answered, “You bet we would.” 

I was a bit shocked. New York ATC is one of the busiest in the world and not known for being overly friendly on the radio and to my knowledge, they had not allowed anything like that since WWII when an airplane hit the Empire State Building. We took them up on their offer and dropped down to 1000 feet, flew up the East River, came around LaGuardia Airport and turned down the Hudson. There, ahead of us was the Statue of Liberty. It was a beautiful windless day,  so the water was like a mirror and we actually saw two of her.

I asked JFK approach control if I could take a turn around the Statue of Liberty. They said: “Sure”. I dropped down to 500 feet over the water and made a pylon turn around Ms. Liberty and our airplane was again shaking with the cheers from these men and boys who had lived without knowing if they would ever make it home again. The hairs on my arms and neck were standing up and tingling with the thought of what this symbol really meant. When they asked me what runway we wanted, I had to clear my throat to be able to answer. We landed straight ahead on runway 13 right and taxied to the terminal.

The surprises weren’t over. This was just a fuel stop for our guys but I told them they could get off to call home if they wished. I had the paperwork so I had to precede with them up the ramp to the terminal. When we reached the terminal, I was stunned.  It seems that every baggage handler, ticket agent, taxi driver, Port Authority Cop and anyone else at JFK that day had heard of our arrival with the first troops back from Iraq.

The desire to greet some real heroes after the agony of Vietnam was enormous and these young men were treated to a mini ticker tape parade right there in the Pan Am Terminal. Being part of this is one of the most treasured moments of my 53 year aviation career.

Captain Sherman Carr
February 22, 2011

P.S. After Lockerbie, the U.S. Government, instead of helping to beef up security, withdrew all support, International business, military and embassy transportation from Pan Am as a “known terrorist target”. This was done in a “confidential memo” to all embassies. This was a terrible blow to international revenues and the airline had to shut down shortly thereafter. This was very disappointing to say the least.



I had originally written this story to help a fellow Pan Amer with his doctoral dissertation and thought I might submit it to the NY Times with the hope of hooking up with someone who had been in the Statue of Liberty that day and taken a picture of us.  I was going to offer to sign and authenticate the photographs with the story of that flight in exchange for a few of the pictures.  I can't believe that someone didn't take a picture or two.  A 747, that low, circling around Ms. Liberty, with the giant PAN AM full height name on the side had to have drawn the attention of someone on the ground or in the statue.   If you can figure out a way to publish this with the Times or Post and we could hook up with the photographer, we could donate the proceeds from the sale of copies to the American Red Cross or similar organization.   I would be happy for any suggestions about this.